9to5 Wisconsin leader Nancy Yarborough shared her personal experience at a state Senate committee hearing of having to choose between a pay check and being at her mother’s bedside in her final days. She wants to make sure that other working family members do not have to make this same choice.
Before my mother passed away in January 2014, she struggled through two heart attacks and many strokes. My family went back and forth to her bedside, never sure when we would be saying our final goodbye. I used up whatever paid time I had earned. The job I had at the time was covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act, but I’d never had to use it before. I was shocked to learn FMLA didn’t cover me with any pay.
Nancy’s opinion piece in support of the Wisconsin Family and Medical Leave Insurance bill (or WIfi as it is now known), appeared in the Wisconsin State Journal on Feb 6, 2016.
Passing this bill shouldn’t be a political issue. For families, it’s all too personal. Here’s how it works: It would give employees struggling with personal or family illness or caring for a new child up to 12 weeks of paid leave. By pooling employee contributions of just $2 to $3.50 per week, the program would cover 2.6 million workers in our state.
Read Nancy’s full column here
